Hi
My Black Moore is very sick. Quite certain it's Ich.
I noticed he was sick last week Monday. He was first hiding in a plant but since has been sitting on the floor behind the filter not moving, panting, and looking very sick. I started dosing with Seachem Paraguard immediately. He had a white dot on his side. He now has three.
I am worried because the fish is not improving and looks very ill. My specific questions are:
1) Whether I should continue to use Paraguard. The bottle says to only keep using it as long as the fish show no stress. But this isn't super helpful since the fish was showing stress before I started using it.
2) What else can I do?
3) Why isn't he improving? (the water temperature is at 25 Celsius so I would expect the Ich life cycle to be relatively fast. I haven't put it any higher in case I stress the fish further. I can't put it lower because the heater isn't even on that's just how hot it gets here).
I filled out a whole form with all the parameters and such for fishlore.com but after 4 days noone there has helped me but the form is quite useful so pasting below. Thank you very much for the help.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank?
25 Gallon
How long has the tank been running?
1 month
Does it have a filter?
yes
Does it have a heater?
yes
What is the water temperature?
25 Celsius
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
1 black moore 1 fancy goldfish
Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
for the last few days, 20% every day (update: I've stopped doing this now to prevent losing too much oxygen. I'm treating water for 48 hours now before adding it. So only changing every third day now). Normally once a week at 30%
What do you use to treat your water?
Seachem prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
yes both
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes but after adding fish I had a bit of trouble with Nitrite for 3 days. Fixed it.
What do you use to test the water?
JBL Pro Aqua test
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: <0.05
Nitrite: <0.01
Nitrate: 3
pH: It's back to 7 now but it keeps dropping to 6.5. Then I add a very small amount of alkaline buffer to get it back to 7.
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
twice daily
How much do you feed your fish?
As much as they eat in ~2 minutes
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Tetra
Do you feed frozen?
No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
I bought some with the Seachem Paraguard on Monday and I've fed them this once.
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
5 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
6 days (update, now 10 days)
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Two simptoms. First, 2 white dots. I assumed Ich. Started adding Seachem Paraguard 5 days ago.
Second, the fish hides behind the filter and stays there not moving. Looks asleep/dead. When I come to feed he gets up and swims around a bit and eats. Then goes back.
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Yes Seachem Paraguard 5 days go.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
It looks less black. More pale/grey.
Explain your emergency situation in detail.
I got the fish a few months ago after my sister's flatmate abandoned it when moving out. It was just living with guppies in a 6 gallon tank. So I bought a bigger tank (25 gallon) and got him a friend (smaller goldfish) and left the guppies in the 6 gallon. I came downstairs on Monday and the fish was hiding in a plant not moving. The little goldfish was with him but the little goldfish is fine, I think he just likes to follow the big one around. That said, the little Goldfish I bought at the shop so maybe it came with a parasite. So on Monday I figured the light was too bright and turned it down. But the next day the fish was hiding again and I also noticed two white spots had appeared on its side. I ordered seachem paraguard (and salt but I haven't used any of the salt. But I have it if I need to use it). I started treating with paraguard immediately. But the fish has only become less and less active. It now only comes out when I feed it. Otherwise it's just hiding. Not moving. The little fish sometimes goes and pokes him but he just stays there. The white spots are less visible now.
Paraguard says to keep treating as long as the fish isn't stressed. But the fish was stressed before I started the treatment. So... I don't know.
My Black Moore is very sick. Quite certain it's Ich.
I noticed he was sick last week Monday. He was first hiding in a plant but since has been sitting on the floor behind the filter not moving, panting, and looking very sick. I started dosing with Seachem Paraguard immediately. He had a white dot on his side. He now has three.
I am worried because the fish is not improving and looks very ill. My specific questions are:
1) Whether I should continue to use Paraguard. The bottle says to only keep using it as long as the fish show no stress. But this isn't super helpful since the fish was showing stress before I started using it.
2) What else can I do?
3) Why isn't he improving? (the water temperature is at 25 Celsius so I would expect the Ich life cycle to be relatively fast. I haven't put it any higher in case I stress the fish further. I can't put it lower because the heater isn't even on that's just how hot it gets here).
I filled out a whole form with all the parameters and such for fishlore.com but after 4 days noone there has helped me but the form is quite useful so pasting below. Thank you very much for the help.
Tank
What is the water volume of the tank?
25 Gallon
How long has the tank been running?
1 month
Does it have a filter?
yes
Does it have a heater?
yes
What is the water temperature?
25 Celsius
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
1 black moore 1 fancy goldfish
Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
for the last few days, 20% every day (update: I've stopped doing this now to prevent losing too much oxygen. I'm treating water for 48 hours now before adding it. So only changing every third day now). Normally once a week at 30%
What do you use to treat your water?
Seachem prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
yes both
*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Yes but after adding fish I had a bit of trouble with Nitrite for 3 days. Fixed it.
What do you use to test the water?
JBL Pro Aqua test
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: <0.05
Nitrite: <0.01
Nitrate: 3
pH: It's back to 7 now but it keeps dropping to 6.5. Then I add a very small amount of alkaline buffer to get it back to 7.
Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
twice daily
How much do you feed your fish?
As much as they eat in ~2 minutes
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
Tetra
Do you feed frozen?
No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods?
I bought some with the Seachem Paraguard on Monday and I've fed them this once.
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
5 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
6 days (update, now 10 days)
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
Two simptoms. First, 2 white dots. I assumed Ich. Started adding Seachem Paraguard 5 days ago.
Second, the fish hides behind the filter and stays there not moving. Looks asleep/dead. When I come to feed he gets up and swims around a bit and eats. Then goes back.
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
Yes Seachem Paraguard 5 days go.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
It looks less black. More pale/grey.
Explain your emergency situation in detail.
I got the fish a few months ago after my sister's flatmate abandoned it when moving out. It was just living with guppies in a 6 gallon tank. So I bought a bigger tank (25 gallon) and got him a friend (smaller goldfish) and left the guppies in the 6 gallon. I came downstairs on Monday and the fish was hiding in a plant not moving. The little goldfish was with him but the little goldfish is fine, I think he just likes to follow the big one around. That said, the little Goldfish I bought at the shop so maybe it came with a parasite. So on Monday I figured the light was too bright and turned it down. But the next day the fish was hiding again and I also noticed two white spots had appeared on its side. I ordered seachem paraguard (and salt but I haven't used any of the salt. But I have it if I need to use it). I started treating with paraguard immediately. But the fish has only become less and less active. It now only comes out when I feed it. Otherwise it's just hiding. Not moving. The little fish sometimes goes and pokes him but he just stays there. The white spots are less visible now.
Paraguard says to keep treating as long as the fish isn't stressed. But the fish was stressed before I started the treatment. So... I don't know.